“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:2-3
As Christians, we are a people who have been called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9)! Or as Paul says at the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthians. we are “called to be saints,” which means we are called to know and walk together with Christ in growing fellowship and holiness. Clearly that’s something no Christian can do alone! To walk faithfully with Christ, we need one another. It is only in the rarest of circumstances that God calls any believer to walk alone apart from the regular support and help of a faithful church (for example, in times of extreme persecution or in rare situations where there truly are no other believers available). And that’s why it should not surprise us to find that most of Paul’s letters are written to churches, not just individuals (and even those addressed to individuals are about churches!)
It is God’s purpose that believers come together regular to learn how to know and worship Him and how to love and support one another. Our D-Groups are designed to help us do this on a more personal and intimate level than is possible in the larger Sunday morning gathering. With D-Groups we meet in homes to open God’s word, discuss and share our needs and pray with one another. Our next D-Group study will center on 1 Corinthians 1-9 where the apostle Paul instructs the believers in Corinth how they must live together as Christians in a difficult and challenging pagan environment. We’ll be using a study written by Pastor Mark Dever, published by the Good Book Company. Groups will meet for seven sessions, meeting every other week beginning in February. We’ll give more specific details next week, but if you are interested in potentially hosting a group, please let one of the elders know today.
Looking forward to continuing to grow in grace with you.
Pastor Scott